RAO
by Personauser93
Summary: Why do I play games? I play them to get away. Poor grades, no friends, and family who want to live through me. Join Rera Yoake as he plays through Aincrad. What would it be like for a player that focuses his time killing players that murder.
1. Chapter 1

Why do I play games? I play them to get away. Poor grades, no friends, and family who want to live through me.

"What did we tell you?" my father figure asked scolding.

"Keep my head down, and get good grades."

My father never got ever the fact that his best friend betrayed him, and stole the love of his life

"Your grades are dropping. You are getting worse! You will never be a doctor because of those games! My mother raised her voice.

My mother was overly emotional… again. I bring home a C and this is what happens. I never said I wanted to be a doctor, but when she was younger she dropped out of medical school being pregnant with me. I didn't matter what I wanted to do… if I spoke up then I would be punished for being disrespectful.

Mother continued to yell

"you need to see your rightful place in this world! If you refuse to get your act together… you can just leave this house!" she said threatening a fourteen-year-old.

I nodded trying to keep my head down. This was the best way to survive in this household if you didn't want to give in to demands. Just be respectful, follow the rules, and don't talk back. No, in fact, don't talk at all.

I left the room without another word. The house seemed smaller than it used to be. It made me miss the time when I didn't have any responsibilities. When I could play with my all-might action figure without a care in the world.

I entered my room which was cleaner then when I had left it. Someone must have come in and cleaned it while I was away. On my bed pillows laid a package. It was the game I had preordered. It had finally come. I took the package into my hands and started to open it. inside was a wad of bubble wrap and the game Sword Art Online. It was a fantasy game that took place in the floating castle of Aincrad. The game cover hours of enjoyment, and engaging gameplay. I opened the copy. The click of the case sent a shiver down my spine.

I picked up my NerveGear which was neatly placed on my computer desk next to my window. The computer desk was the only thing in the room besides the bed, and the game systems. I put my copy of Sword Art Online into the NerveGear, and put the headset on. With a push of the on button the screen in front of my eyes flickered on. I wasn't fully immersed yet. The machine game me instructions to pat my whole body. This was used to calibrate the NerveGear. Once I had patted everything I followed the instructions, and said

"Next"

Once all the settings and User agreements were signed I was ready. To start any Virtual game you had to vocally activate the system.

"Link Start"

The world disappeared, and was replaced with white. Colors were flooding my mind they were making up my new home.

Settings came up.

Touch ok

Sight ok

Hearing ok

Taste ok

Smell ok

The settings formed a line. They were all good to go. I went on to the next screen.

It asked me what Language I spoke, and I selected Japanese. The language setting disappeared, and what replaced it was the log in screen. Since I was a beta tester, I had an account already. I put in my name and password.

Words appeared, they read Rera Yoake(M) correct? Yes or No

I used my real name for my username. I had no reason not to. No one knew me. I was very unpopular, and pretty much invisible. There was no reason to hide my name, and I didn't want to try and create some stupid name. The M I guessed stood for male

Yes.

The colors came back flooding my mind again and I was in.

When I was in, I was surprised at how far humans have come with technology. The creators created smells and textures for everything. Everything had a feeling, and in a virtual game where you shouldn't be able to feel anything, it was a breath of fresh air.

I was at the starting point in the town of beginnings. A regal white brick court surrounded by a beautiful garden. There was a lot of brief moments were burst of light turn into new players who had just logged on.

They all mad their way down a stone path out into the town. I eventually joined, going down the path into a pre-modern town.

Floods of NPC stands covered a lot of the town. Everyone stand had a crowd of players. Considering the time it would take to buy equipment, I decided to skip out on that. It would be more productive to go out and hunt mobs for experience. Past the market were the homes, then the teleport game, and then the town gate.

Outside the town gate was the first floor's dungeon. This one took shape of a field. Hill tops and grass as far as the eyes can see. Boars and Giant Hornets covered the area. The Hornets were level two while the Boars were level three. Both were weak enough to take out at level one. I started working on a Boar. I plunged my blade into the boar's side and digital blood burst from the wound. The boar took a swing with its tusks, but I made a quick jump back. The Boar started sticking the ground getting ready to charge. The Boar charged. Every stride it let out a grunt. I parried the Boar while stepping to the left. The Boar passed by keeping its speed, U-turning to attack again. The boar couldn't make sharp turns at that speed being quadrupedal. On its next attack I Steeped to the right, and as it was passing I used the weight of my body, and I shoved my shoulder into the Boar's side knocking it over. I flipped my blade around, and took the grip in both hands. I charged a skill. Once ready my body started glowing a digital yellow. I plunged the blade into its heart. The boar's eyes widened, and it laid stiff. I twisted the blade, and the mob burst into code.

On the top right corner of my eyesight I saw the experience given. It was about a then of a level. I got some material for upgrading equipment, but I've never concerned myself with upgrading until higher levels

In a few minutes the field started filing up with players eager to grind.

A rare few wanted to player kill.

"I see that you've been weakened." Said a player with the male one base look, and brown hair.

The player didn't look like he spent a lot of time in the character creator.

"Why fight the mobs and get weakened for little experience? Why not pick off the damaged players for more?" the player smirked readying his blade.

I had two-thirds of my health while he was at full.

"You must not have many friends in real life" I laughed taunting. I was being a little hypocritical, but I didn't want to show fear. I was in a bad spot

"Shut it!" he charged swinging his sword down diagonally. I parried and stabbed. He dodged to his right, and the blade grazed his left shoulder leaving a small trail of code. I saw on the top left corner of my eyesight that my name had turned yellow for damaging a fellow player.

The player killer came at me again. He slashed down again, and I raised my blade to defend, but the attack was a faint, and I took the bait. He lowered his blade, and using his shoulder shoved me into the ground. He stabbed. I rolled charging a skill. His eyes widened as my sword went horizontally through his sword arm cutting it off. He screamed n pain.

"Dow did you do that!?" he growled. It downed on me that he didn't not know how to use skills. I stod and grabbed his sword, but it dissolved and reappeared in his hand. It was still his equipment, and there was no two-handed skill in the game.

"Tell me!" he yelled agitated.

"Go to hell!" I spat

He ran at me. I charged another sword skill. His blade was unsteady in his weak arm. With the skill I knocked away his blade. The next moment felt like time was in slow motion. I straitened my blade, and rammed the tip through the players heart. The player burst into code. I had received half a level worth of experience, and a red highlighted name. I laughed proud and raised my sword arm in victory… but at the time I didn't know that I had committed murder.


	2. Chapter 2

"What's this?" I said in unbelief. "Where is the log out button?" I checked every menu and option for the log out. It was just gone. I wanted to think that it was an error that they were going to fix, but that wasn't the case. I was about to have my answer.

My body started to decode bit by bit. It was a force teleport. I felt separated from the world. My body was being rebuilt in a colosseum. In the dented of town In main hall. I wasn't the only one. People around me. Group by group teleported in. A bell was ringing from the tower in the dead center of the town of beginnings. There was unease amongst the crowd, confusion.

"What is going on?" A random guy asked.

"Why can't I log out?" Asked another.

I didn't know what was going, but I wasn't the only one.

"Look up there" someone spotted something. It was a glowing red panel blinking off and on that read warning. Once everyone had their attention on it, it grew. Warning, system error, warning, these were all things that thousands of panels read as they surrounded the town in a dome.

Red liquid started oozing out of the cracks in the panels forming a huge blob in the air. The blob formed a clocked man. The man didn't have a face. I would think that it was a welcome event, but it was too ominous.

"Attention players. I welcome you to my world." The clocked figure greeted. "My name is Akihiko Kiaba and as of this moment I am in control of this world." What does he mean by that? I thought to myself.

"I'm sure most of you had noticed that you are all missing an option in your main menu. The log out button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be. You cannot log yourself out of SAO and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the nerve gear that is on your head. If anyone tries to do so, a transmitter inside of the nerve gear will go off and fry your brain, and you will die."

Everyone was panicking at what he had said. There was no way out of this game. Why would someone want to trap tens of thousands of players?

Akihiko continued "despite my warning family and friends have tried to remove the nerve gear from some of the players. As a result, the game has two hundred and thirteen less players then when it had begun." He brought up new reports in the sky reporting deaths from nerve gear. This man was serious.

"There is no longer anyway to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system, forever and the nerve gear will destroy your brain." He couldn't be serious right? PvP had already started. Without warning people have now been branded murderers. I looked at my red highlighted name, and my heart started feeling heavy. The sky seemed more blood colored, and the world was smaller. My hands felt stained as people around me started whispering.

"Doesn't the red name mean he's killed someone?" A girl in red armor whispered.

I turned around. Every jumped and looked away. "Don't look at him." A few whispered.

It was hard to shut out he whispers, but I looked back toward Akihiko

"there is only one way for a player to escape death and that is to complete the game. Right now, you are gathered on floor one. The lowest level of Aincrad. If you manage to defeat the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. If you defeat the boss on floor one hundred and you will have cleared the game."

This was now a death game. My hobby just became my poison. I never had anything work out for me. Even my freedom comes with a price.

"One last thing" the clocked figure continued "I gave you all an item in you inventory, please take a look."

I took out the item in my inventory and it was a mirror. What was this supposed to do? Remind us of who we are? My questions were swiftly answered when every player was swallowed by a light. Once all the lights disappeared we were all revealed as we truly were. My short red hair, my 5'8 size, and my brown eyes. The parts I specifically customized out of my character. They reminded me of my parents.

"You are probably wondering why I did this" damn right I am. My grip was so tight that my hands were numb

"My goal was to be able to control the fate of a world I designed. As you can see I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck.

The man disappeared; leaving nothing, but quit players. The silence was a short, brief, moment that concluded with people screaming for their lives. People scrambling for the exit. I tried to take a few steps, but I got knocked to my side. It was chaotic. I stood up, making my way out of the area. People outside of the main hall were dangling off the edge of the town.

"It's a joke, right? If I die, I'll just wake up at home." A delusional player said letting go. The guy fell off Aincrad and plummeted to his death.

People were running out of the town. Outside the town in the field was a war zone. Mobs all over the place were dying, people were fighting over mobs, and others began to group into parties. I was speechless at how far people had devolved in a matter of seconds.

 **One month later**

After a month the game had normalized. I was not able to get much work done because of my status as a murderer. People think that I would betray them, so parties threaten to kill me if they see me near them while they are grinding. Some players refused to sell me gear. They didn't want to help me get better equipment so that I could kill them later. This red highlight was annoying, but the status only lasted three months. Hopefully I would be able to survive until then. Today players were having a meeting to discuss how to defeat the first-floor boss. I didn't take part, but I did know that if people planned on completing a floor a month then we were going to be stuck here for a long time. Instead of fighting bosses, I wanted to enjoy the game. Around the town I was looking for NPC quests. I found a few that wanted me to kill groups of hornets, and others that wanted me to find materials in the dungeons. My present quest required me to fight twenty red hornets which were found deeper in the dungeon. On my way in I saw something in the distance. On top of a hill I got a better view of the area, and I saw a girl running. She was running from a group of hornets. I jumped into action, and made my way down. I jumped between the bees and the girl.

I stabbed my blade into the side of the hornet in front which shattered as I went through it. There were four more left. They surrounded the girl and I.

"Can you fight?" I asked the girl. I couldn't see her name because she had her settings set to private.

"I can take on two at one time." She turned back to face the two the mad their way around us. I faced the two in front of me. I charged forward and slashed down at the hornet on the left. It flew to the right and my blade scraped the ground. Both hornets charged me and knocked me to the ground. My health fell to two thirds. I looked up towards the hornets and charged a skill. I made multiple stabs at them and they backed up. I got to my knee and swat at them as they charged. I knocked them back. I was going to finish them, but the girl charged in with a sword skill and killed them both with one slice.

"Thanks for the help" She thanked softly.

"It's no problem. I got some experience from that." I said standing up. Dusting my armor off.

"No really I need to give you something for helping me." She jumped in gratitude.

"I mean if you are offering…" I said trying to be humble.

She walked up to me can got close to my face.

"Close your eyes." She whispered softly.

"W-why?!" I tried hide my blush from what first came to mind.

"Just do it." Her mouth got closer to my ear.

I was about to close my eyes, but in the distance

"Haaaay!" I turned to see a bigger guy in heavy armor running towards us. The guy huffed as he ran, and once he got to us was out of breath.

"Can *cough* you guys help me with a quest?" he asked taking a seat on the grass.

I laughed "Sure what quest would you like help with?"

He sat silent for a second to catch his breath.

"I have to kill twenty red hornets."

The quest was surprisingly on the quest I was on. I looked at the girl, and blushed remembering the gift. I turned away "I'm okay with helping." I replied

"I'll help too" said the girl.

A wide smile made its way across the players face "Great! My name is Marco."

"Rera" I replied

"Nicky" smiled the girl.

After the introductions why made our way deeper into the dungeon. At the far end of the dungeon there was a cave where the boss door was, but outside that cave there were red hornets.

There were five hornets in view, and we could have planned, but as soon as Marco saw the hornets he charged like a bull.

He even shouted "Charge!" he pulled out an axe and decapitated one of the hornets. Two came at him, but he caught one by the wings and through it at the other. The both shattered. It was kind of amazing watching, but we had to get in the action as well. I ran forward with my swords and cut a hornet in half. Nicky threw her knife and killed one as well. The hornet death count was at five. We needed to get fifteen more. Thankfully they came five at a time. I stabbed one, and sliced another. Nicky went on a rampage killing one after another. Marco had the raw strength the kill multiples of hornets in one swing. I would watch Marco's back and Nicky would pick off the stragglers. After a half an hour the kill count was at nineteen, but the last hornet wasn't appearing.

"It's not showing?" I asked wondering where it was.

"It must be in the area." I'll go look for it Marco ran out

"I'll go with you" Nicky ran after him.

I would have followed, but I found a chest that I wanted to open. Inside was a health potion, which could come in handy later. I wanted to catch up to them, but the quest dinged. Twenty out of twenty death count. They must have found it. I made my way to my teammates, but as I got in eyesight. I saw something weird.

Marco was on the ground bleeding digital blood from his neck. Nicky was standing over him with her knife drawn. He burst, and she looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"Rera!" she ran at me and into my shoulder.

"What happened?" I asked shocked at the scene I just witnessed.

"Marco! He-he took a hit for me." She cried into my arm

"it's ok." I tried to comfort her. Trying to put together what happened.

We walked together, and made are way back to town. Right outside of town we stopped.

"Thank you." Nicky stopped

"It's no problem." I didn't stop walking towards the town.

"if it weren't for you, and Marco I would have died two times now. I'm useless, I shouldn't be the one that lived." She walked close to me. She looked me in the eyes with her blue eyes. "I never got to give you that gift." She got closer.

"Close your eyes" she whispered.

I closed them and everything was dark. I didn't know what she was doing…

…

…

I took my blade… and I stabbed her.

I opened them and saw a blade next to my throat. The blade was in Nicky's hand, and my sword was hilt deep in her stomach.

"So… you knew…" She coughed. She started to decode slowly, which was weirder then the usual burst.

"I had a feeling…"

"all that work… for nothing"

"You killed Marco. He was innocent. He just wanted to play the game."

"Don't lecture me! Look at yourself!" She looked at my red highlighted name. "You killed an innocent person as well! Don't lecture me."

"No!" I yelled "I didn't kill an innocent person! I killed a player killer! A murderer!" I got loader "I kill people… who kill people."

Nicky's blade dropped "I… I wish I saw this side you before I tried to kill you." She finally burst


End file.
